Born To Love by Leigh Greenwood

Author:Leigh Greenwood
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 0843950951
Published: 2003-06-16T07:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

"I was worried about you when I heard your husband had been killed," Holt said to Vivian when she showed him into the parlor of her brother-in-law's mansion. "I wanted to let you know I would help you, but I didn't know where to find you."

"Abe's family insisted I come to them," Vivian said. "They treated me like a princess when they found out I was going to have a baby."

Vivian retained the boundless energy and optimism, the bright eyes and flawless skin of her youth, combined with the fullness, the sensuousness of maturity. Yet Holt was surprised to find he preferred the memory of that young girl. There was something about her that the more mature and poised Vivian lacked.

"The war ruined them just like everybody else. They died and left me a plantation I didn't know how to run, so I sold it and came to Galveston."

"So you're not broke."

"Not yet, but I soon will be if I don't find a husband."

"I can help you," Holt said.

"How?"

He'd been waiting to ask her to marry him for so long, he'd forgotten when the idea first came into his mind. Yet now that the moment had arrived, he couldn't say the words.

"Uncle William left me Price's Nob," he said. "We can go back to Virginia."

Vivian's eyes flashed. "I'll never go back there again. It was like a prison. I hated it."

Even though he knew Vivian had never liked the isolation of Price's Nob, the vehemence of her words surprised him. He couldn't understand how she could compare his great-uncle's guardianship to being confined in prison. "Uncle William loved you. He meant for you to have Price's Nob." He saw momentary interest.

"Is there any money?" she asked.

"The Union Army burned the house and salted the land."

"Then there's nothing to go back to. I intend to stay right here in Galveston. It's full of rich men getting richer, and there are parties every night. Why would I want to bury myself in Virginia?"

Holt could think of several reasons, but Vivian answered before he could.

"I spent my childhood bored to distraction. I only felt alive when I escaped to Charlottesville. Your uncle would let me do anything as long as my big brother was with me. Then after Abe died, I was shut up on a plantation. In Galveston I finally feel alive, like I can breathe." She positively beamed. "You always said I was made for gaiety and laughter."

"But nobody can live on gaiety forever."

"Maybe not. But after a lifetime without it, I won't have my fill for a long time."

The door opened and Vivian's sister-in-law entered the room. "Carl and Edward called, but I told them you were with an old friend."

Vivian jumped to her feet. "Where are they?"

"I told them to come back tomorrow."

Vivian ran to the window. "They're still in front of the house. Have somebody run and stop them."

"They didn't mind," her sister-in-law said.

"I don't want them tomorrow," Vivian replied, her face tight with anger. "I want them today.

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